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NBA on ESPN announcer Mike Breen is a prince, and here's a story to prove it

Mike Breen is in town this weekend to call the Thunder-Warriors for ABC on Saturday night. [2015 AP file photo]

I speak to a lot of classes and civic clubs. I take a lot of questions. I don’t remember ever being asked what was my biggest blunder. But I know what it was.

Mike Breen has been asked that question. He thought about it and came up with one. Our blunders are intricately related.

Breen is in town this weekend. He’ll call the Thunder-Warriors for ABC on Saturday night. Breen is the best in the business. Not just the basketball business. The sports business. Great knowledge. Great timing. Great voice. Great quarterbacking of partners Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson.

As an added bonus, he’s a fine fellow. A prince among men. I have never met a network announcer so friendly and down-to-Earth.

So now, the blunders. Let’s go back 10 years. The Thunder’s first season in Oklahoma City.

During an 2009 ESPN broadcast from Denver, the discussion turned to the retired jerseys hanging from the Pepsi Center rafters. Including a “Beck 40, 1967-77”.

Thompson 33, you knew (David). And Issel 44 (Dan). But Beck 40?

Breen speculated that perhaps it could be Bubba Beck, a former National Hockey League player. I wondered to myself if it was Byron Beck, who I remembered from old ABA trading cards.

A few minutes later, Breen corrected himself. The jersey indeed was Byron Beck’s, from Denver Rocket days. The hockey player in question was Barry Beck. Bubba Beck was either a water skier or horse trainer or stock-car driver. No hockey player.

That was Breen’s blunder. Mine came a little while later, when I decided to blog about Breen and Beck.

I don’t know what was wrong with me. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was having a bad day. Maybe I am lord of the knuckleheads. Maybe all are true.

But I sat down and cranked out a most scathing blog. Called Breen the worst broadcaster in network sports. Said he was a typical know-it-all New Yorker.

Then I started listening more. I caught several Breen games, and realized what a fool I was. The guy was really good. He knew the NBA. He knew broadcasting. He had a smooth style that was easy on the ears. I kept thinking, I shouldn’t have written that Byron Beck deal.

Then over the next couple of years, the Thunder became contenders. ABC and ESPN took notice, repeatedly sending Breen and Company to OKC.

I met Breen. He was charming. Personable. More interested in talking about you than talking about himself. He gave ESPN a good name. Gave New York a good name. Gave us all a good name.

We would talk often. He would compliment my work. Especially liked a column in which I worked in Strother Martin, the great Hollywood actor.

(Story continued below...)

And every time I saw Breen, I hoped that the stupid Byron Beck blog had died in the abyss of the world wide web.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago. A Thunder-Warrior game brought Breen to OKC. I was there early and saw him out on the court. He smiled and said hello and then asked if I had a minute. He had a story he wanted to share.

Breen had been invited to speak to a class at his alma mater, Fordham University. During his visit, a student asked Breen his biggest mistake. Breen said he thought about it and then mentioned the Byron Beck story in Denver.

The Fordham student asked if anyone had ever called Breen out for the mistake. Breen said no.

But back home later that night, Breen remembered the Fordham student and got to wondering. So he googled Mike Breen and Byron Beck. You can do it yourself.

First thing up, then and now, Berry Tramel and newsok.com and “Mike Breen: Worst broadcaster in network sports.”

As we sat in the seats at Chesapeake Arena and I felt two feet tall, Breen just wanted to know. Why so harsh? Why so caustic? He thought we had a pretty good relationship. He had always wanted to be accommodating and pleasant and anything but arrogant. I had painted him the opposite.

Here’s what an extraordinary man is Breen. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t appalled. He was just mystified.

I answered him the only way I knew how. With the truth. I am an idiot. I hadn’t listened to him much. I am an idiot. I was having a bad day. I am an idiot.

Of all the things I’ve ever written, that’s the one I want back most. And I have no idea what would be No. 2 on the list.

I fell on my sword. Breen smiled and shook my hand and accepted my apology. He remains as friendly and personable as ever.

Breen has taught me much. Don’t make snap judgments. Don’t write to fill up space. Be magnanimous even if you don’t feel like it.

Our blunders intersected, with one notable difference. My blunder was much bigger than his.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/berrytramel.

Berry Tramel

Berry Tramel, a lifelong Oklahoman, sports fan and newspaper reader, joined The Oklahoman in 1991 and has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist. Tramel grew up reading four daily newspapers — The Oklahoman,...
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